Practicing Our Faith

So, this book is a big part of my lent.
Introduced in the book are a series of practices... And they are all things that in some ways are taken for granted, and in some ways are disappearing from our culture.  I read the first edition in college with a Bible/book study and I don't know that I really got it or wanted to take the time to get it then.
Lo and behold, in searching for a book a while ago for a group study, I found edition number 2- with 2 new chapters and the same great premise.  There is a lot that is the same, because these are ancient Christian practices- and these things don't change.  There are additions- thoughts on how Creation and the care of self and care of the world is present in these practices, and how we integrate them in our lives.
   But... The best happy coincidence? There is a chapter for every week of Lent and Eastertide- so, from now to Pentecost.
14 weeks.
And, I think it'll be really good. I can get it more now than I did then, because I'm ready to do the work.

Lent

Not past tense of 'to loan'. No grammar lessons here today. I know that's probably something of a shock, or not.

The weeks before Easter are a time when the church becomes a very reflecting and solemn place... People prepare for baptism and re-affirm one another as we all journey together in this very meditative season. We give up things-or take them on, in an effort to be mindful of all that was given up and taken on in the life, ministry and death of Jesus Christ- and then, we spend a season of celebration living into Spring- a season loud with the potential of blossom and planting- and into the resurrection of Jesus and the birth of Christ's church. Through Eastertide, out of our meditative state, we are renewed as creation is renewed around us.

So what am I giving up? What am I taking on?

Balance. God gives us amazing minds and bodies and places in us beautiful souls- and entrusts us with their care. So I am going to try to get closer to balance and learn more about how I can best serve. No better time than the present, right?

Putting away Christmas

I know... It's past the first of February.  I am very well aware that this should have happened looong ago, but Christmas did not get completely packed away till this afternoon... and I am a-okay with that.

Between you and me, it's been pretty busy here of late.
Travel did its bit... first to watch a dear friend marry her college sweetheart, and then for class to Central Europe.
My.  Oh.  My.
Put a new semester beginning on top of all of that, and it's no wonder...

But it is okay, because Christmas isn't the only thing I put away today. I've been working on quite a bit of late, and this whole organizing thing fits in pretty well with that.

If you recall Tuesday's post,  you remember I finally made some resolutions.  And one category was...

More Organized.
In my home.
My calendar.
My finances.

Well, putting away Christmas and quite a few other things which have hung around for some time left me with seeing my starting point.  Organizing my home will not be an overnight effort, because it's much more than just a place for everything and everything in its place.
I hope to simplify- keep only things that bring me great joy.  Not aquire new things- be a steward of what God has given me, and do it well.
I hope to decorate- make my space something I am proud of.  This will be the first time I will have lived in a place for longer than a year- I really want to celebrate that because it's really something to celebrate.  Kind of a marker to adulthood...
And I hope to enjoy the process and learn from it.  Pinterest is holding ideas, for sure, but it won't be the only thing I look to.  I've added a sidebar, and I hope to have resources linked over there, because there are lots of good ones out there.

Do YOU know of any good ways to organize your home? Any websites you frequent for tips?

Resolutions...

Never too late.

More dedicated...
In prayer.
In journalling.
In creating.
In relationships.

More organized...
In my home.
My calendar.
My finances.


More confident...
In my skin.
My food choices.
My fitness level.


I want to end this year further down the path to who I am... I think I got too specific too soon with resolutions for where I'm at last year, so I'm going to try this approach.  I'll say more about each category as time passes and I make progress.

Wordless Wednesdays: Central Europe

A symphony at a place like this in Prague is enough to make any girl feel grown up.

Holidays.

I love them so...

I have slept.  

I have eaten.

I have celebrated reason for the season.  I put a nativity under the tree, and participated in worship both Christmas Eve and Christmas day.  It was a 3+ hour drive one-way, but SO worth it.  Because...

I have hugged my mama:

Ain't life sweet?

Hope yours was good too.

Resolutions up soon. 

A box of love

Well friends, I am well on my way to a China-free Christmas. We've been making paper ornaments a little at a time of an evening. The tree, grown in NC, is in the stand that I bought at my neighborhood hardware store, and I got a box today.
 Mom sent me a box of ornaments that are, and I hope she'll correct me if I'm wrong, all older than me. Many of them are German, and I can remember most of them from a pretty young age...  Some sparkly and fragile and kept well out of my reach.  Or soft and stitched-and painted and wooden... Things I could, if I was very careful and was a good girl- touch and hang on the tree.

Mom carefully packaged them up, wrapping the soft, worn tissue paper packages we used year after year in bubble wrap and placed them together like puzzle pieces in this box she'd taken the time to line in newsprint. I'm so glad she took such time and care with them year after year and down to the day last week when she sent them on their way to me. They all came to me whole- and with my mama's love and memories in all of the layers of packaging.
We've made a good number of ornaments this far this year, and there are some I still hope to make, but I think that those that'll make me smile the most as I put them on the tree will be the ones that have been handled carefully by her hands and clumsily by my little fingers and put up for years before they made their way into my home.

Advent at home

Black Friday shopping…

I understand the point of knocking it all out early, but taking away family time for those who work in retail… especially with the sales starting at midnight, even 10:00 on Thanksgiving day. 

I heard Christmas music playing already in many places, before Thanksgiving.

And now we have Small Business Saturday. 

Cyber Monday.

Constants.  Telling us to buy buy buy more. Why?

I just… want to get back to a sense that Christmas is about the Christ Child.  Advent- that month of getting ready that comes before Christmas, is supposed to be about preparation.  In our hearts, in our homes.  Not about gifts… especially not about stressing out over finding the time and money to buy all kinds of gifts and go into debt… So to remember that, Christmas in my home, the very first one of my own, is home-made this year. 

I’m not buying many things.  And when I buy things, you can be sure they will not be given alone, and very rarely be new.  Somehow, it just makes more sense to me to give from the heart- and for me, that’s with my hands.

Why so sane?

It's funny how when you take a step back and evaluate, you really will learn things.  

I re-ordered some priorities bigtime and I took a minute to check in with where I am and I made some changes so that I'd be okay with that place.

I left my church job.

I think it was time... school and family are supposed to come before work, and that wasn't the case consistently, so I left work that I brought home with me and that pushed against what I’m learning about priorities in favor of work that'll stay at work.  

You see, I start sitting for a little one once a week next Friday... her parents think she's too cool for her to be work that comes home with me.  They'll keep her.

And I’m being selfish.  I’m taking care of me because right now is the time for me to make those habits a part of me... If I can’t do it now, when I am learning and growing in my ministry and in who I am, when will I take the time to?

I'm eating good food.

I'm running, spinning, riding bikes, and will be throwing weights in the mix too.

Sleeping more, and more deeply.  

This is a time when I'll try to be intentional about taking care of me- and remembering I am a child of God and worthy of care...  I am so thankful for the ability to be surrounded by a community that keeps me honest on this stuff.  It's so good to learn and grow here.  So.  Good.  

Sanity

Sanity is taking a step back. 
It’s taking a walk and watching the leaves change. 
It’s riding a bike.  A few times. 
It’s dancing.  
It’s singing.  
It’s re-evaluating and making changes in life for YOU.  
It’s drinking coffee and taking a minute to talk.  
It’s Sabbath.  Honest-to-goodness, no work, all renewing, Sabbath. 
 It’s feeding the soul and thanking God every second for it. 


And it feels great.